Zombie Outbreak
by Batfamily2001
Summary: An AU story inspired by an episode of The Batman, a series that ran from 2004-2008. Basically a "zombie" virus is spread throughout Gotham, and Batman isn't heard from. So, the Batfamily; Dick, Jason, Tim, Barbara, Cass, and Stephanie, go around Gotham trying to survive and help anyway they can.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This was an AU that I was inspired to do by that episode of The Batman show from 2005ish. Hope you guys enjoy!**

The 'zombie outbreak', began two days ago, and so far it's been hellish. So far it is contained in Gotham, which isn't too hard since it's a group of islands. However, as human nature ensures, there is mass chaos. People riot in the streets across the country. Scratch that, across the globe there is rioting.

However, the rioting that is occurring in any particular spot isn't nearly as bad as that occurring in Gotham. As soon as news started spreading that a zombie like disease had broken out in Midtown, both Uptown and Downtown began rioting.

They flooded the streets in large numbers storming angrily towards the hospital for not releasing any information on the disease. They even had to get a SWAT team down at the hospital, to prevent the rioters from harming any doctors or nurses.

Then came the whole phase where people started gathering supplies. They began looting convenience stores, supermarkets, some even breaking into weapon shops. That's when Bruce had truly had enough. He ordered the Batfamily out on the streets, each protecting a certain area of the city.

However, that's when he first saw it. The zombie outbreak was no longer an isolated situation. It had spread. The man in question was extremely pale with a tinge of gray with a bleeding spot on his neck. His mouth dripping saliva, and judging from the blood on and around his mouth, he's already bit someone else.

The zombie was walking towards a large crowd of people, without intervention, a large number of them would be infected.

Bruce made his move. He dove off of the rooftop towards the zombie, tackling it to the ground. He was careful, making sure to avoid sharing any bodily fluids, as the disease is most likely transferred that way.

The zombie got up from the ground, and screeched incomprehensible words at Bruce. Bruce took out a batarang, and went in for the attack. The zombie charged at him, and he dove for the ground, slicing at the zombie's leg.

Once he saw that he got a blood sample on his batarang, he took out a test tube and let the blood drip into it. He capped the tube, and looked back towards the zombie. And it looked back at him. It's eyes completely black, void of all emotions, only feral hunger.

The zombie charged at Bruce again. Bruce dropped a pellet, which dispersed a gas. Bruce put his breathing mask on. However, the gas that should've knocked the zombied out, didn't affect it at all. The zombie continued charging. Bruce unready for the attack, was knocked back. He fell to the ground, but quickly regained his footing.

The zombie charged again, however, this time Bruce was prepared. The zombie ran towards Bruce, who flipped over the man with ease. The man turned around and prepared to charge again. However, before he could, Bruce's fist collided with his face.

The zombie like man fell to the ground, and Bruce thought the fight was over. He turned to walk away, but when he heard a noise behind him, he looked to see the man standing up again. He ran for Bruce, swiping at Bruce with feral rage.

Bruce easily parried the attacks, however the man was relentless. He kept swiping at Bruce, quickly. Finally, Bruce caught his arm as he attacked. Using his attackers arm, he flung the man over his shoulder into a large glass window.

The man looked like he might actually stay down. His right arm was broken in more than one place, the bone protruding from the skin. Bruce felt bad for the man, it wasn't his fault that he got infected. He walked over to the man and began tying him up.

MIdway through tying him up, the man woke back up. His face snapped towards Bruce, who narrowly moved his head back in time. Then something unexpected happened. The man began forcing his arms against the wire binding him. As more and more pressure was applied, the wire finally snapped.

Given any other situation, everyone would have laughed at the expression Bruce wore. A mix of shock and a tiny bit of fear. His cable which is reinforced titanium, shouldn't be able to be broken by any human.

The zombie stood up, and began forcing his bones back into place. He looked at Bruce like he hadn't just fought him. Like the previous battle had no affect on him at all.

Bruce knew that the battle wasn't worth it. No matter what he did the man would just keep getting back up and attacking. He pulled out his grappling hook and fired it into the air. It latched onto a tall building, and he got pulled off into the night.

Bruce pressed his hand to his ear, activating his comm. "Batman to Batfamily, new objective. The virus has spread. You're job is to now evacuate the city. If you see any of the infected, do NOT engage. Threats should be viewed as highly dangerous. Batman out."

Bruce stood atop the building, overlooking the city. Usually, from up in the sky, the city would look… peaceful. However, now, Bruce could see the terror occurring across the city. Fires raging in the streets. Crowds of people shouting at police officers. Chaos.

Even though he wanted to help, he knew the best thing to do was to examine the blood sample that he got from one of the infected. He pressed the beacon on his belt, calling the Batmobile to his location. When it got within his line of vision, he dove of the building, landing in the Batmobile.

He stepped on the pedal, thrusting the car forward at 230 miles per hour. Swerving through the streets, avoiding any civilians that lurked there. He did a hard right, narrowly avoiding hitting a cop car.

He finally made it to the Batcave. The car slowed to a stop, and he jumped out of the car. He walked over to the computer and sat down in the chair. He took the tube containing the blood sample out of his belt and inserted it in a slot for a forensic analysis.

He waited patiently for the analysis to complete. It slowly analyzed the blood sample that he got. Slowly. Slowly.

That was two days ago. Nobody has heard from Bruce since the message he sent to them. He locked down the Batcave and Manor once he got back, using codes that reign supreme to any codes anyone else has.

Fortyeight hours ago, only about 1% of Gotham was infected. That number had increased to about 50% of Gotham's population.

The Batfamily has been held up in Oracle's clocktower, taking turns on supply runs. During their supply runs, they also drop off food and supplies to local refugees.

Horrible events really do bring out the best to people. Gang leaders start refugee camps caring for their members and member's families. They protect their own. They have the second largest camps. The largest are run by the government. They have the most complex way to get into them. You are thoroughly checked, from head to toe, to make sure that you aren't infected. Anyone who is infected or shows some of the signs of being infected, are left on the streets to their own devices.

The Batfamily sit around a table in the clocktower. It isn't the largest living space, though they are still grateful that they have any place safe enough to stay. There are two bedrooms at the clocktower. There are five of them; Dick, Tim, Jason, Barbara, Stephanie, and Cassandra. However, Jason goes by his own rules, and often leaves middle of the night.

Dick begins speaking, "So what are we going to do? We still haven't heard from Bruce or Alfred, and the cave and manor is locked down."

"I don't see why we can't just break into the manor, it's not like I haven't done it before," Jason points out.

"You can't break into it when it's on lockdown mode. On lockdown mode it can keep Superman out," Tim points out.

"I can try hacking the security system," Barbara offers.

"Too risky, you helped design the security system, along with Bruce and Lucius. It's designed to know what you're trying to do. Plus, it could send a virus to your computers, and that would not be good," Dick counters.

"Why don't we call another hero to check on him. Wally could vibrate through the walls of the Batcave," Jason offers.

"Too risky," Tim says like it's self explanatory.

"What do you mean it's too risky, he's the fucking Flash!" Jason shouts at him.

"Imagine Wally gets bit by a zombie somehow, would you like to face a zombified speedster?" Tim asks.

"Well I don't see you coming up with any brilliant ideas!" Jason shouts at him as he stands from his seat.

Tim stands as well, shouting back, "Yeah, because I trust Bruce's judgement. If he locked himself in there, he did it for a reason!"

Jason laughs, wiping a nonexistent tear for effect, "That's funny. Trust and Bruce are not usually words that are used in the same sentence, unless you're talking about how HE trusts NO ONE!"

Dick stands up and steps in between Jason and Tim. "Stop! Arguing isn't going to help us." Both Tim and Jason become less tense and begin relaxing.

"Dick is right," Barbara agrees.

"Of course I am," he responds smirking. Barbara punches his arm playfully. "Ow." He says grabbing his arm in mock pain.

"Anyway, I agree with Tim, for now we just have to believe that Bruce locked himself in there for a reason," Barbara announces.

"Okay, so say he did lock himself in there for a reason. Not only did he not tell us the reason, but he left us out here to die. Plus, he hasn't made any attempt to contact us," Jason points out.

"Are we so sure that he hasn't tried to make contact?" Stephanie asks. Everyone looks at her surprised, since so far she hasn't expressed her opinion. "Maybe he just hasn't made it obvious. Or maybe he contacted the Justice League."

"That is a possibility," Dick concludes. "I'll get in touch with Wally to hear if they've heard from him, Babs see if there are any unusual broadcasts that could've been from him." Barbara nods, and he walks out of the room. As he leaves, she wheels herself out of the room and over to her main control station.

Jason smiles deviously, "Okay, now that mommy and daddy have left the room, let's talk the real options. Bruce is obviously screwing us over."

"No." Cassandra replies.

"Okay…"

"But, Dick is… lying. He not telling us something," She tells them softly.

"So Dickhead knows something that we don't. I'll go beat it out of him," Jason announces, smiling at the thought.

"As entertaining as your fights get, I agree with what Dick said earlier, we can't fight during this. We need to remain focused on the ask at hand, not on beating each other up," Tim declares. "That being said, what Dick doesn't know can't hurt him, so I say we swing by Wayne Manor tonight," Tim whispers to the group around him, making sure neither Dick nor Barbara would hear him.

Jason smiles a delicious grin. "I knew that I didn't completely hate you, replacement."

"You know what I think we should check Jason for any signs of infection, he's acting too nice," Tim says sarcastically as he smirks.

"Shut the fuck up before I put a bullet between your eyes," Jason tells him angrily reaching for his holster.

"No threatening Timmy, Jason," Dick says as he reenters the room. "I talked to Wally, he heard from Bruce the day he locked down. He said that Bruce said he was 'going off the grid'," Dick says adding air quotes around 'going off the grid'.

Barbara wheels into the room, "I haven't found anything unusual, that would suggest that there is something from Bruce."

"Damn," Jason responds sarcastically with a snap of the fingers.

Barbara rolls her eyes, but continues speaking, "However, considering the government is probably observing the radio as well, he would be extremely careful when sending out a signal.

"Agreed," Tim says.

"I think that Bruce is just being a dick," Jason begins. Then he smirks, "No offense," he replies looking at Dick.

Dick clearly wants to reply, but opts to just rolling his eyes over dramatically. "Anyway, we are running low on supplies, I was thinking we could do a supply run in an hour. I was thinking Tim and I could go."

"You ALWAYS go!" Jason complains.

"What are you five?" Dick snaps back.

"Like you can talk. 'Oh look at me I'm Dick Grayson, EVERYONE loves me! I'm over affectionate and when I don't get my way I give puppy dog eyes'," Jason mocks.

"At least I have affection!"

"That doesn't make any fucking sense!"

"You don't need to curse after everything you say! 'Hey look at me I'm Jason Todd, I'm a silent badass. Everything in this life pisses me off, so I scream fuck and shoot things!' How'd you like that?" Dick asks smirking.

"This isn't gonna end well," Stephanie whispers into Tim's ear.

"No it isn't, but that doesn't make it any less funny," He responds at the same volume.

"You think you're soooooo funny, don't you?" Jason asks.

"It's way better than the jokes you come up with! I mean we get it, my name also means penis!"

"You're just pissed that even though your name means penis, you barely have one," Jason says with a delicious grin.

"I don't have a small penis if that's what you're implying! Just ask Barbara!" Dick screams motioning towards his longtime girlfriend, who face is bright red. Either from embarrassment or anger. However, judging by how she looks ready to kill him, it probably anger.

"Oh yeah, well you're stupid!" Jason spits at Dick.

"NO, YOU'RE stupid!" Dick shouts back.

Jason's face boils with rage. He dives over the table tackling Dick onto the ground. He raises his hand to punch Dick in the face, but before his fist smashes down, his hand is grabbed. He turns his head to see Cassandra holding his arm in place. "No fight," She commands.

He wants to argue or disobey, but he knows better than to get on Cass's bad side. The last time he did, he had to explain why the bookshelf was smashed. "Fine," he replies, his muscles becoming less tense.

"Ha you're afraid of Cass," Dick says still on the floor.

"LIke you're not?" Jason responds quickly.

Dick eyes Cass, then looks back at Jason. "Good point." Dick gets off the ground, and sits down in his seat.

Barbara looks at the two of them and sighs, "You know, Jason could probably use the space. I say he goes on the next supply run." Jason smirks at his victory. "However, someone should go with him to watch him."

"I'll do it," Tim says standing up from his seat.

"No I'll do it,' Dick says, also standing from his chair.

Barbara puts her hand to her face and begins massaging her temple. "Dick, it would probably be best if you and Jason didn't go out to get the supplies together. Tim… You're sure?" Barbara asks.

"Yeah I…" Tim begins.

Before Tim can finish his thought Dick cuts him off, "Jason always tries to kill you!"

"That's ancient history, me and the replacement…" He clears his throat, "I mean Tim get along great now," Jason tells him.

"Just five minutes ago I heard you threatening to kill him!" Dick shouts, clearly frustrated.

"Just a little anxiety," Jason assures, "I'm not used to being cooped up this long."

Dick lets a loud and long, exaggerated sigh, "Fine. But if you hurt or kill Timmy, I will…"

"You'll what? Kill me? You wouldn't have the balls," Jason says with a smirk. He's silent for a second as Dick glares daggers at him. "Not that I would kill Tim. Not anymore anyway. Me and him are cool now," Jason says, pulling Tim closer by the neck for good measure. He keeps his arm wrapped around the younger man's neck as Tim fakes a smile, that he hopes Dick won't notice is forced.

Dick's posture relaxes. "Okay, whatever." Dick begins walking off.

"The hell you going?" Jason shouts after him.

"I'm tired. I'm going to go rest!" Dick shouts back.

"K, have fun!" Jason shouts back even louder. Jason walks over to the couch and falls into it. He shuts his eyes, "Wake me up when it's time to leave.

About forty five minutes later, Jason feels someone shaking him gently. "Not now Alfie." When the shaking doesn't stop he says louder, "Quit it Alfred, I don't want to go to school today!"

He hears a giggling and opens his eyes, to see Stephanie looking down at him as she shakes him. "Alfred?" she asks.

"Mention this to anyone, and I will kill you," he threatens.

"And then I'd have to kill you," Tim tells Jason with a smile, from the archway. "Now c'mon, get your ass up."

"Ohhh, I'm gonna tell Dickhead you cursed!" Jason says in a mocking tone.

"Whatever, we are leaving in five," Tim says turning away to get his bo staff. Stephanie stands up and walks over to Tim.

Jason sits up from his laying position on the couch. He reaches over to the coffee table next to him and grabs his helmet off of the table. He places the helmet onto his head, and presses the button on the side, locking the helmet to his armor.

He stands from his seat and walks over to Tim. "Ready," he affirms.

"Good, let's go," Tim declares. They walk up the stairs to get to the top floor of the Clocktower, a little balcony, that is filled with computers. Tim opens the latch on the ceiling, and climbs out.

It's been two days since Tim has been out in Gotham's polluted air. And to be honest, he's not sure what he was missing. The air smells of smog, even though all power plants and factories haven't been running in over forty eight hours.

They look out into the Gotham skyline. It's unusual. The sky is always lit with bright colors from all the buildings and skyscrapers. However, tonight, the sky is pitch black.

The supply run has to be quick. Extremely quick. If they take too long, then they won't be able to visit the Manor without attracting unwanted attention from Dick and Barbara.

They begin their trek, jumping off of the clocktower and landing on a different building. Running on that building until that one comes to the end and they jump onto a new one.

There first stop is Gotham General. It was one of the largest refugee camps until the government came in. People started leaving Gotham General for an area where they could actually be protected by people with guns. Now though, the hospital is a surplus of supplies for the Bats. They have all necessary medical supplies, plus they can raid the cafeteria for 'food'.

When they reach the hospital, they are surprised. It's quiet. Unusually quiet. Usually, it is somewhat quiet, but there is usually at least two families hiding inside. They find none.

"I don't like this," TIm declares.

"Neither do I," Jason says pulling one of his guns out of the holster.

They continue walking down the hallway towards the hospital's cafeteria. When they get to the double doors, Tim cautiously reaches to push the door open. Before he can though, Jason kicks the doors wide open, causing a loud noise in the silent building. Tim closes his eyes and sighs deeply.

When he opens his eyes, Jason is already inside raiding the place for food. He sees Jason grab something and eat it, but he can't tell what. He can tell that it isn't cooked though. Jason doesn't seem to notice that fact, nor does he seem like he would care.

After they are finished grabbing food, Jason stuffs it in a bag, and shoves it in a closet. "On our way back from the Manor we'll pick it up," he reasons to Tim. Tim nods in agreement, and they are back in the hallway again, running for the roof.

When they reach the top of the staircase, they hear something not good. Jason fingers his gun's trigger, and Tim pulls out his bo staff.

Jason puts up his fingers. One. Two. Three. Him and Tim share a quick glance, and Jason knocks down the door. He sees five infected. 'How the hell had I not seen them,' Jason thinks to himself.

Although almost everyone had been against it initially, they had agreed that if it's life or death Jason is allowed to use his guns. Sure Jason stretches the definition of 'Life and Death,' but he's sure Dick will be fine with it since he's protecting Tim.

He aims the gun and pulls the trigger. One shot fired. The infected has a hole in between his eyes now. He fires a second shot. Another infected gets a bullet in the heart. He usually likes to keep distance between himself and them, though he doesn't want to attract more attention, so he runs over to the remaining. He is wearing kevlar that covers all of his body so he is good.

Tim has the same thought process. He too runs over. He swings his bo staff, knocking over two of the three remaining infected. Jason runs over to the downed with a knife, and swiftly slits their throats. They both look up to the last remaining infected.

It charges at them, and they both dodge it easily. It begins swiping at them, and almost gets Jason. Jason throws his knife at the infected, however it only seems to become even more annoyed by this.

It charges once again at them, but this time it successfully tackles Jason to the ground. It's face snaps towards Jason's, only Jason arm holding it away. Tim runs over to them and using his bo staff hits the infected's head.

Tim hears the man's jaw break when the bo staff collides, and helps Jason to his feet. The infected stands and snaps his jaw back into place. Jason pulls out another knife and throws it.

Tim winces at the brutality, and Jason walks over to where the body dropped dead. He bends down, and pulls the knife, from where it is imbedded in between the man's eyes. "C'mon," Jason says motioning for Tim to follow, "We got to get to Manor quickly."

They run along the rooftops in an uncomfortable silence. Sure Tim is grateful that Jason saved him, but that doesn't make watching him slit the men's throats any easier. He knows that Jason was protecting them, but they are human. Were human. Who knows if they will ever be again?

Tim is pulled out of his thoughts when the buildings disappear, and they are on the ground running through woods. Finally after much running, they make it to the Manor.

"You weren't kidding when you said it could withstand Superman," Jason says looking up at the reinforced steel and titanium lined with kryptonite surrounding the Manor.

"If I plug into the main system, I may be able to bypass the security feature," Tim announces.

"Since when can you hack better than Barb?"

"I can't, but I don't play fair. Besides, she was trying to get access to the Batcave's system and then hack into that. It'll be easier since I can just plug myself into the system. Plus, she taught me some tricks," Tim explains to Jason.

"Just get to it," Jason says pushing Tim towards the security panel to the right of the front door.

Tim pulls out a smalling hacking device from his belt, and plugs it into the system. He begins typing into the device. Jason stands there watching for the first five minutes before growing impatient. "I'll be over there if you need me," Jason says pointing towards some trees. Tim mutters his response, not looking at Jason when he does so.

The tapping at the keyboard becomes furious. Tim taps away quickly at the keyboard. His eyes scanning the machine as the lines of code fly by. He tries to keep up.

Jason looks back at Tim, they have been out for over two hours now, Dick would grow suspicious. To completely honest, Jason is surprised that Dick hasn't radioed him yet. While he is thinking about this though, about twenty minutes into Tim's hacking attempt, he hears a spark. He looks up and sees the control panel is fried and a very happy looking Tim.

"The hell'd you do?" Jason asks.

"I confused the crap out of it," Tim declares.

"Why do you look so happy? You fried the security panel, and the defenses are still up."

"Because I wasn't trying to bring the security system down, I was trying to hack into the Batcomputer, which I did. We are now officially in the system," Tim says grinning. He looks at the device, and taps a few commands, and the security feed begins playing.

He scans through the multiple cameras seeing if he can spot Alfred or Bruce.

"There you are!" a voice from the shadows calls out. He steps out of the shadows to reveal Dick Grayson. "You weren't allowed to come here for a reason."

"Yeah, we know that you have been hiding something from us!" Jason shouts back.

"I admit that I have, and I'll explain everything, once we get back to the Clocktower," Dick assures them.

"You're just like Bruce!" Jason shouts at him. "Hiding things and then claiming you did it to protect us! It's utter bullshit!"

"He's right Dick," Tim tells him.

"Not you too Timmy. Look, let's all go back to the Clocktower and I'll explain everything."

"Really tempting offer," Jason replies sarcastically, "but I'd like to make a counter offer. FUCK OFF!"

Dick gets prepared to fight Jason, and Jason readies himself to fight as well. "Screw this! Guys, we can't be fighting among ourselves, we have to work together or we will all die!" Dick and Jason both sigh.

"Fine, we'll go back, but only because I don't feel up to fighting right now, even someone as weak as Dickhead," Jason states, except for the last part which he 'mutters'. And by mutter, it is meant that he said it loud enough for Dick to hear and understand, but he pretended to not intend on him hearing it.

When they arrive back at the Clocktower, Dick and Jason are still obviously annoyed at each other. Barbara is the first to comment on the tension, "What is wrong with you two?"

"I'll tell you what, this giant ass DICK, for lack of a better word, has been withholding information from all of us," Jason declares.

Barbara looks at Dick like she doesn't want to believe it. "It's true. I said I hadn't heard, that isn't true. Right after the Manor went on lockdown, I received this message," Dick admits pulling out his laptop and placing it on the table.

"Dick, I am sorry," the message begins. "I have failed you and the others, as well as this city. When facing off against one of the infected, he snapped at me. It was unexpected, and I narrowly moved out of the way.

"However, the man's saliva still came in contact with my face. I realized that when I had rubbed my face, I had inadvertently rubbed the toxin into my body. However, I am far enough into my research that I have realized that a cure is unlikely.

"The best doctors in the world have been looking to cure cancer for decades and an entirely reliable one still is yet to be found. With this, this spreads rapidly, quickly consuming the population. It is entirely likely that someone somewhere didn't realize they had the disease and then boarded a plane.

"The cure could slowly be making it's way throughout the world, slowly gaining momentum, and there's nothing we could do about it. I would assume that Gotham will be wiped off the map to prevent the disease from spreading even more than it already has. I want you to to get them all out.

"It's too late for me, I've already been infected, and Alfred refuses to leave the cave. I cannot risk any other lives by going out in the open. I cannot risk an infected Batman. I truly am sorry. I will miss you."

Silence ensues as the video comes to a close.

"Well Shit," Jason says breaking the silence.

 **A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this story, the next chapter should be up in a week or two. Review if you enjoyed it or if you didn't. Let me know what you thought, talk to you guys later.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Well Shit," Jason says breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Dick agrees. "That's why I didn't want you going to Wayne Manor. And why I didn't tell you about the message. I didn't want to discourage anyone."

Tim gets up from his seat without saying a word, and walks out of the room. They all hear the slam of the door and the shouting from Tim, "DAMMIT!" Then they hear a loud banging noise.

Stephanie gets up from her seat to check on Tim. When she enters the room, she runs over to Tim. She sees that he is hiding his right hand in his hoodie pocket that he got changed into. When she pulls out his hand, she realizes what the bang was. His hand is bleeding all over from punching the wall. She pulls him close and they sit on the bed together without talking.

When Tim had lost his mom, he was just glad that at least his dad was alive, even if he was in a coma. When he woke up, Tim was so happy that finally he would get to see him. And then, he too died. Tim luckily had Bruce to play father figure, but even still, Tim got absorbed in his work. He slept minimally, ate meager portions, and didn't do much to maintain his health. That was even with Bruce, with Alfred. Now he doesn't have either of them.

Barbara pulls Dick aside from the group. "You should have told them," Barbara tells him.

"I know, I just… I knew this would happen. Tim shouldn't have to deal with his dad dying again. With feeling that he could have done something. For me and Bruce, we became vigilantes to prevent more lose. He became a vigilante to help others. He was already a hero when his father died.

"It wasn't like me where I subconsciously knew I couldn't have done anything. He thought he was a hero and that he should've saved his dad, because heroes save people. And now, once again he lost his father.

"Jason will be in denial. He will deny that he cares. But he does. Bruce was his dad too. I just needed them to not give up hope…" Dick explains to Barbara. Towards the end, he ends up pulling her into a tight hug.

She pulls him closer and whispers, "I know. I miss him too."

"I don't know what to do," Dick admits. "He always had a plan. I have none."

"You'll think of one," Barbara tells him, "You always do."

"Not this time, I don't think there is a way out," Dick tells her. "This is endgame."

"You can't say that, you said you didn't want them to give up hope. So that means you can't either," Barbara sternly tells him.

"There is no hope Babs, the government is probably going to blow up Gotham soon. It's logical, there's nothing we can do," Dick explains.

Barbara looks him straight in the eyes and tells him, "There's always something we can do. Something we will do… We will help out for as long as we can. We have to live each day to the fullest and help out as much as we can."

He looks into her eyes and knows that she's right. "Thank you," He tells her.

"For?"

"For snapping me out of it. You're right Babs, 'help out as long as we can', 'live each day to the fullest.' I intend to." He walks out of the room and grabs something.

Walking back into the room he gets down on one knee and pulls out a box. Opening it he says, "Babs will you marry me?"

"We are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and…" she begins, but is cut off by him kissing her.

"You said live each day to the fullest, besides, the ring's gotta be put to some use." Dick tells her smiling. He places the ring on her finger, and holds her hand in his.

They walk back into the room where Jason and Cass were sitting to see that Tim and Stephanie have returned. Dick eyes the bandages on Tim's hand, but opts with not saying anything.

As they enter the room, the shiny diamond catches Jason's eye. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING?!" Jason shouts pointing at them. "YOU PROPOSED!? WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE END!"

"Do you want me to shut you up the same way I shut her up?" Dick asks pointing at Barbara.

Jason's eyes widen and he shakes his head, "Please don't."

Steph and Tim laugh at the exchange, and Dick smiles when he sees that Tim hasn't completely lost himself. He can thank Stephanie for that.

Dick takes a seat on the couch, and Barbara wheels over next to him. Kicking his feet up on the coffee table and leaning back, Dick eyes everyone. "What does everyone want to do now that you guys know everything?"

"I say we get the hell out of here," Jason suggests/demands.

"I hate to agree with Jason, but when he and I went to the hospital there were no refugees. NO ONE. There's always someone there. I think that everyone inside the city limits, that aren't in the government camps, are infected. There's nothing more we can do for them.

"I think it's what Bruce would've wanted," Tim continues, sounding saddened by Bruce's name, "He would've wanted us to help everyone and then get out. There is no one else left to help."

"Even if there were people left, we still have to get out," Jason declares. "The government is going to drop a bomb on us soon. We have to get out!"

Everyone looks around the table. "Alright. All in favor of getting out of here, say I."

First Jason says it. Followed by Tim, Steph, and Cass. Then Barbara. "Okay, so it seem that it is unanimous," Dick says. "We do a final sweep of the city, make sure no one needs help, then leave. It's eleven now. We start the city sweep in a half an hour. If we are lucky we can leave by seven tomorrow morning. That's eight hours. Everyone good?" Everyone nods. "Good."

When the half an hour is up, everyone is ready for the final patrol. Everyone has a different area of the city to patrol, and Oracle monitors them all from Clocktower.

Dick leaves a little earlier than everyone else, since he has the longest journey to make. He runs along the rooftops, looking for anyone that needs help, but all he sees are zombie like figures in hoards.

There are so many of them, and they are all over. Dick thinks about how they will all die and how he can't help them. No matter how much he wants to, he isn't a genius bioengineer. He can't help cure this disease. He can't help them.

He is brought out of his thoughts by an infected charging at him. He jumps over it, dodging it narrowly. It swings at where his body would have been, had he not jumped.

Dick pulls his escrima stick out, and taps the button, making electricity surge through it. He gets close to the infected and taps the stick to it, immobilizing it.

He continues running. He jumps onto the next building. Then the next. He continues going until he reaches another one of the 'safehouses', aka an old abandoned orphanage, that civilians typically use.

The door is stuck, but using his shoulder, he budges it free. He walks through the doorframe and observes his surroundings. He listens for any hint of human life. Anything. A tapping. He hears a tapping.

He walks cautiously towards the tapping sound, until he sees a small figure in the corner tapping on the wall compulsively, like they're worried. A child. He walks up to the child, "It's okay kid." He places his hand on the child's shoulder, and the kid slowly turns around.

The child's eyes are sad, wet with tears. "Please, my mommy was infected. She killed my brother and sister... She bit me then someone shot her… Please end it. Before…. Before I become one of them." The child cries falling into Dick's shoulder. "Please."

"I… I can't," Dick replies horrified by the request.

The child's eyes plead, "PLEASE… Before I become like them… Please…. I just want to see my family again."

"I'm sorry… I just… I can't," Dick tells the young child.

The child clears his throat. "It's okay, I'll just end it myself." The child walks over to the window, and steps onto the window sil.

"NO!" Dick shouts reaching to grab the child, but it's too late. Dick stares horrified as the child plummets to his death. Dick feels sick to his stomach. He didn't sign up for this.

The rest of the search for Dick was uneventful, so he heads back to the Clocktower. When he arrives back everyone was already there. And they are crowded around Tim. Oh no.

"Timmy?" Dick asks. He walks over to Tim to see him clutching his hand.

"An infected spit on my hand, Dick. I don't have much time," Tim says looking at Dick. He turns suddenly to Jason, "Amputate my arm. It's the only way, if I can cut off the infection before it reaches the rest of my body, we'll be good."

Jason's eyes widen, "Are you kidding? I can't do that?"

"Why not? It's either that or you put a bullet in my brain," Tim tells him.

"Okay," Jason declare. "Get me the bottle of vodka you have, and a lot of paper towels. And the largest knife you have."

Dick and Barbara give him what he needs, and then leave the room. They wait with Cass and Stephanie in a different room. "He will be fine," Cass assures them. And they believe her. And then the procedure starts.

First the screaming starts. They hear Tim screaming his head off. Even with the alcohol numbing the pain, it's still painful. The screaming goes on for at least ten minutes, but it feels longer. After the ten minutes though, Tim passes out from the pain.

Jason walks out of the room about twenty minutes after Tim passes out. His clothing soaked in blood. He doesn't say anything, but they can all tell that he is nauseated.

Jason walks into his room and changes clothing and then walks back into where Tim is. Then they figure Tim wakes back up, because Jason starts shouting, "SIT THE FUCK DOWN!"

Jason walks back out of the room, red in the face, obviously annoyed. Jason grabs duct tape and walks back into the room where Tim is. They hear Tim shouting, "JASON! GET OFF OF ME!" Then his screaming is cut short by, what everyone expects is duct tape going over his mouth.

Jason walks back out of the room, with less duct tape in his hand then when he started. He lets out a heavy sigh, "He wouldn't just sit down."

"That why you duct taped his mouth?" Dick asks.

"He wouldn't shut up either," Jason declares. "You guys can go in and see him if you want," Jason says motioning to the door.

They all begin walking toward the door and opened it. When they enter, they see Tim lying on the center table with his mouth taped shut, his legs taped to the table and his right arm taped to the table.

As they get closer, they see that Tim's left arm is missing from the elbow down. They look at the stump, seeing that it is wrapped in bandages all around.

Stephanie is the first one to approach him. She carefully pulls the duct tape from his mouth. When the tape is completely removed he screams, "WHAT THE HELL JASON?!"

"Sorry…" Jason tells him.

"How do you feel?" Stephanie asks him.

"My arm's sore," He admits jokingly.

She looks at him sympathetically, "I'm sorry about your arm."

"Don't be," he tells her. "It was my own fault that I got it infected."

"Don't do that," Dick tells him walking over towards him.

"Do what?" Tim asks.

"Don't blame yourself for everything," Stephanie finishes for Dick.

"I'm admitting my failure, not blaming myself for everything."

"It was my fault that you got infected, I should have wrapped your hand better," Stephanie admits.

"It's nobody's fault. Everyone should just shut the hell up!" Jason interrupts. Everyone silences, and Jason begins speaking again, "Tim won't be able to get up and leave for another couple of days. So…"

"I can get up now," Tim interrupts trying to pull free from the duct tape.

Stephanie pushes his chest down, "Don't even try."

"I'm fine…" he says starting to move, but grunts in pain when he moves. "Really... I am."

Dick glares at him, "You're not. Rest for now. We will leave in twentyfour hours, until then, sleep." Dick walks out of the room with Barbara, Jason, and Cass, leaving Stephanie sitting next to Tim.

Standing outside the room, Dick, Barbara, Jason and Cass discuss the plan and how it will be affected. "I don't like it, Dick," Jason tells him. "He lost a lot of blood from the amputation."

"I know Jay, but that was the only way to make him rest. He needs it." Dick says.

"He not ready to leave in twentyfour hours," Cass agrees.

The four of them look at each other for a while, the air reeks of seriousness. Finally, Jason announces, "I need a beer," before walking off toward the kitchen. He returns a minute later with a glass bottle in his hand. He pries the cap off and puts the drink to his lips.

He downs the entire bottle and places it on the table. "We all need to relax," Jason declares.

"Jason Todd, the voice of reason," Barbara teases, "What, your beer tell you that?"

"Well he couldn't come up with that on his own," Dick says joining in on the joking.

Jason punches Dick lightly on the arm, muttering, "Asshole."

"Don't you mean dick?" Barbara questions.

"No. No, he's a HUGE DICK!" Jason shouts laughing as he grabs a case of beers, and hands one to Barbara and one to Dick, keeping one for himself. He would've handed one to Cass as well, but she doesn't drink.

"How would you know that he has one?" Barbara asks laughing.

Jason spits out the beer that he was sipping, and Dick starts cracking up. "I know how you know," Jason says once Barbara is sipping her drink.

Barbara in return spits her drink out from laughing so hard, but her cheeks turn a bright shade of red contradictory to her laughing.

So caught up in their laughing, that they didn't realize that the door knob turned. Out walks Tim.

"Can you guys quiet down, I was trying to sleep," Tim jokes.

"What the fuck?" Jason asks laughing. "How'd you get out?"

Tim starts laughing, "I wasn't in Arkham, Steph was guarding, and she kind of fell asleep."

Jason smiles taking another sip of his beer. "That why there's drool by your crotch?" Jason asks, making Tim look down at his pants, making Jason laugh harder.

Everybody else joins in on the laughing as well. Finally, a blonde mop of hair walks into the room. "Guys… Tim is tryying to sleeeep!" Stephanie tells them, before her eyes land on Tim. "Tim? How'd you get out?" She asks.

Tim starts chuckling, "You fell asleep, Steph."

She looks confused for a second and then her mind catches up to her facial expression, "Oh yeah." Resulting in everyone else starting to laugh.

"So Steph, you leave the drool by his dick?" Jason asks casually, picking up where he left off in his joke.

She looks down at his pants then turns a bright shade of red, causing Jason start to laughing his ass off, and Dick slapping Jason's arm jokingly.

Eventually Tim interupts Jason's laughing, "We got any advils?"

"That why you came in here in the first place?" Dick asks.

"No, I got up because you guys were being loud, but now I also want an advil," Tim admits.

"Just drink a beer," Jason says offering him one, "It numbs the pain a helluva a lot better."

Barbara eventually returns, though no one had noticed she left, since they were all laughing at Tim's reaction to the taste of beer. "Here," she says tossing him the container of advil.

He opens the container and pops two pills in his mouth. "Thanks Babs," he says.

"No problem," she says.

They are silent momentarily, but once again, to no one's surprise, Jason ruins it. "WAIT! I have a very serious question!" He shouts in Dick's ear.

"I think he's had too much to drink," Dick announces, grabbing for Jason's bottle. Before he can though, Jason reaches for one of the empty bottles and swings at Dick with it. Dick easily dodges and shouts at him, "REALLY!?"

Jason gives back a goofy grin in response. "That'ssssss a warning," his speech slurs.

"No it wasn't, it was just you're too drunk to actually hit me," Dick counters.

"SHIT!" Jason shouts at him.

"What now?" Dick asks him, genuinely confused at the outburst.

"I forgot my FUCCKING QUESSSTION!" Jason shouts at him, obviously agitated.

Dick loses it and starts laughing. He is soon joined by Barbara, Tim, and Stephanie. Cass remains quiet, but she does crack a smile.

"WAIT! I remememember," Jason slurs. "Timmmm, are you gonnna get like… a robotic arm now? Like… Like ROBOCOP! Weeee could... call you ROBOROBIN!" Jason shouts excitedly at his idea.

Dick starts laughing even harder than before. "What? You… you don'ttt like me idea?" Jason asks saddened.

"No, I love it Jay!" Dick says through his laughs. His eyes begin tearing from how much he is laughing.

"GREEEAT!" Jason shouts, turning his frown into a smile.

Jason's drunkness goes on for another hour, before he passes out. He wakes up about eleven hours later, and his head hurts.

"FUCK!" He shouts. "My head hurts like a bitch!"

"Wonder why," Dick remarks sarcastically.

"Stop being a baby," Tim calls from in the kitchen, "I got my arm chopped off, and I'm still not complaining."

"Because you no longer have both arms, I'm not gonna beat the shit out of you. Just know that that's the reason, not because my head hurts so much," Jason declares.

"Whatever you say Jason," Tim mocks.

Jason thinks about saying something along the lines of, 'You know what, fuck it, I'll beat you with your amputated arm,' but decides against it. Instead he decides to ask, "So, when is our window for leaving?"

"We were thinking in twelve hours, after it's been dark for a little while," Barbara announces from the kitchen.

Jason nods his head and begins getting up, "I should be good by then."

Almost twelve hours later, it is dark out. Everyone is putting on their gear, and loading their arsenal. Jason pulls out his twin pistols, and counts the bullets. 21. He grabs his knife off the table and sheaths it in his boot.

Tim acts like he is prepared and ready, though on the inside, he scared to death. He doesn't want to screw up again. He can't screw up again.

They all come up with a formation that makes sure that Tim isn't left open to any attacks from the left side, where he is weak. Of course they make the formation without his knowledge, while he was in the bathroom, so he doesn't get annoyed at them.

They are finally ready to leave. Everybody makes sure one last time, that they have everything they need, and they are off.

The biggest flaw in their plan was how they were to move Barbara around. She basically had to cling to Dick's back for several hours, as they made their way out of the city.

The first time they experience any trouble is about twenty minutes into their journey. They land on a rooftop where several infected, were bunched up. Dick lays Barbara down against the wall, and takes a defensive position to block her from any infected that come their way.

The fight is over quickly, with Cass, Tim, Steph, and Jason, easily taking out the five or so infected that were there. Even Tim, with his missing appendage, was still a great tactician, and as so didn't have much difficulty.

Dick picks Barbara back up and they continue on their journey. They run along rooftops, through Gotham's polluted air. Quickly, quietly, and efficiently making their way across the city.

They run into trouble again as they are about to cross the bridge that leads out of Gotham. The bridge was blown up, so no infected could cross, so they had planned to swing over. The thing is though, that it is pretty hard to swing across when there are about a hundred infected. "Shit," Jason mutters.

"What do you want to do?" Tim asks Dick.

"I'll hold them off," Jason declares.

"Jason…" Dick begins, but is cut off by Jason.

"It's not up for discussion. I hold them off until you guys can swing across. Then, I'll join you," Jason explains.

"You better," Stephanie tells him.

He nods his head, and they all jump off the building and rush into the crowd. Tim and Jason create a path for everyone. Jason using his guns, and Tim using his bo staff to keep the infected at arms length.

Tim swings his bo staff hard, knocking the last of the infected, in their path, off of the bridge and into the water. Dick takes out his grapple and fires it off. He along with Barbara on his back, swing to safety.

Cass, Stephanie, Tim, and Jason, continue to fight until Dick and Barbara are across. "You next replacement!" Jason shouts.

Tim looks as though he will argue, however both Stephanie and Cass nod their heads in agreement with Jason. Tim angrily puts away his bo staff, and then pulls out his grappling hook. He fires it off, and he too, swings off to safety.

When Tim is fully across, Cass motions for Stephanie to follow. Stephanie pulls out her grappling hook and fires it off. She begins swinging. Then the metal that her grapple was attached to snaps.

She begins falling. Jason turns his back when he hears the screaming. Luckily though, Dick swoops in to save her, just in time.

Not so lucky, when Jason turns his back, he feels a sharp pain by his neck. The damn thing big through his armor. "Cass you go now," he tells her, trying to sound calm.

She notices the slight alteration in his voice and looks at him. "You're hurt," She tells him sullenly.

"It's nothing," he tells her, as he fights off more of the infected. He pulls out his knife, and begins slicing at their main arteries and blood vessels.

"You were bit," She says keeping the sad tone to her voice. "You aren't going to come?" she asks, though it's more of a statement.

"You know that now… now I can't. I'm sorry. Tell the others that I'm sorry about this, and that I'll miss them." He takes out his grapple and attaches it to Cass's boot, and fires it off. She goes flying with the grapple, leaving Jason alone with the infected.

"Still got one last trick," Jason says to himself, as a hoard approaches him. He reaches into his belt, and pulls out a small device.

He methodically rubs the device, until he is overrun. He pushes the button.

Dick sees Cass hanging from the grapple. He fires off his and grabs her down. "Jason is infected!" She shouts at him. "He's going kill himself," she tells Dick.

Dick's eyes widen at the realization. He sees Cass get down, and he swings off toward the other side of the bridge. Toward Jason.

Before he can reach him though, an explosion sends him flying. Cass swings in and grabs him before he hits the water, but the explosion knocked a lot out of him. As she brings him back to the others, all he says is ,"Jaaasonn."


End file.
